the Dark Side
by kenilyn
Summary: Vanessa Marie wakes up and what the shitake mushrooms, she's in this place called the school. her life takes a drastic turn when she meets Max...and discovers a connection between them...read to find out! R and R please! FAX!3 : enjoy peeps
1. what the heck

Prologue  
"Vanessa! Run!" he screamed. i didn't. i fought for my life, just as he taught me. "no! i can't leave you!" i screamed, punching this hairy monster that had just been a man. in the face. then, he cried out in agony and...Our secluded house exploded, miles away from anyone else, without help. Then, everything went black.

beep...beep...beep.  
I let out a low moan.  
"Shh!" someone whispered, "she's waking up." I opened my eyes and let out a scream. I was locked in a cage with an IV stuck into me with some weird beepy machine next to me. I yanked out the IV and took mi ribbon out of my hair, tying it where the iv had pierced my flesh. I looked around wildly and reached to my back pocket just to realize there wasn't a back pocket. I froze and looked down. I was wearing a simple white dress. _Who the freak changed my clothes? And where the heck am I?_

"You're in the school." a small voice said. I looked up at the cage across from me and saw a girl about 5 or 6 looking at me. I thought for a minute. "The school?" I asked. She nodded. _Hmm...the school...it sounds familiar..._ "You read minds don't you?" I asked her. She looked at me, her eyes wide. "How'd you know? Most of the others just think I know 'cause it's normal…which it is." she asked. I shrugged. "I don't know I can just tell." suddenly, she backed up to the very back of her cage and looked terrified. Then a huge foot kicked her cage and the owner of the fat foot laughed. "Aw, poor baby! She can't fly 'cause she's a little chicken!" he snickered. She whimpered and I snorted. "Yeah, cause that was so insulting and terrifying." I said sarcastically.

The snickering stopped and suddenly a handsome face popped in front of my cage. He had long shaggy white hair and mix matched eyes, one icy blue and the other a pale purple, just like the streaks in his hair. He was a little pale and was frail looking, but by the look in his eyes, I could tell he's kicked some major butt and that he could do it again. I looked at his lips and squealed on the inside. He had snake bites! Sorry, I'm totally into that kind of stuff. He looked into my eyes and I felt like he was looking into my soul and I saw this look in his eyes...it was either adoration or...lust...maybe even hunger, I don't know. I heard giggling in my head and looked at the girl who was stifling giggles in her cage.

Suddenly he spoke, his voice ringing out like silver bells. "Who the hell are you?" he asked quietly in a menacing voice. I cleared my throat. "I don't know, who are you?" I asked like the spoiled brat I was. He smirked. "I'm Jagger, your name please?" I sighed, "My name is Vanessa Marie." I answered in a flat tone. He rolled his eyes. "Vanessa Marie what?" he asked sarcastically, as if he had an idea of who I was. "It's because he does." the girl whispered. He turned around and slammed her cage. "Shut up Angel!" he said, sneering her name. That made me mad."Hey!" I shouted, clutching the bars, feeling the heat beneath my fingers. "Leave her alone and pick on someone your own size!" he looked at me and groaned. "Of all the mutants I get the one with a hero complex." he muttered.

That pissed me off.

The bars melted and I jumped out of the cage, slapping him across the face. "I am NOT a mutant!" I yelled. I heard Angel gasp. He grinned. "Finally!" he said. "Vanessa, run!" Angel screamed. This time, I listened. I turned on the spot and ran as fast as I could, but tripped when a hand reached out from a cage and grabbed my ankle. I fell to the ground with a thud and tried to get the hand to let go. "Please!" I whispered. Suddenly, I saw the guy's face. He had shaggy strawberry blonde hair and he looked tall, like, really tall. I looked at his eyes and realized he was blind. Then I caught a glimpse of wings. I gasped. "Come back for us..." he whispered."Come back? For who?" I asked. He was about to answer but a hand grabbed the back of my neck and yanked me off the ground, slinging me over their shoulder.

I shrieked. "Put me down!" I kept pounding on Jagger's back with my fists. He ignored me and crouched down, looking at the boy. "Thanks Iggy, maybe when we're done with her, you and your pack of chicken freaks can have her." he snickered. Iggy pounded on his cage. "I'd rather be a bird kid than a stupid filthy mutt!" he cried. I kicked his cage. And Jagger froze and slammed me onto the ground. "Ow! you jerk!" I cried. He looked at me curiously. "You're an eraser?" he asked. I looked at him. "A wha?" I asked, dumbfounded. "an eraser, it's like a werewolf only our DNA was tampered with when we were an egg and so we mutate into wolf things and eventually...we expire." at the end, his voice was full of grief. I shook my head. "I'm not an eraser, but I am a wolf." I said. He looked at me, his eyes widening. "You're a...a real werewolf?" he whispered. I looked at Iggy and he somehow knew exactly where I was and looked at my face in awe. I sighed. "Yeah, I am, just...just don't tell anyone, ok? It's dangerous for my kind to talk about this." I muttered.

"You mean real life half breeds?" a voice said. Suddenly, Jagger was standing up, and he gripped my arm and pulled me to my feet. I looked at the man who spoke. He looked youngish, maybe in his late thirties and he wore a white coat. "Who the hell are you." he smiled and laughed. "Oh, you kind of remind me of Max, and my name is Jeb." he walked over and patted Iggy's cage, "hang in there kid." he murmured. Iggy stuck his hand out and gave him a thumbs up. I laughed and then covered my mouth. I haven't laughed in a long time. I looked at this Jeb guy. "What do you mean half breed?" I asked him. He smiled. "You're no normal mutant." he said, putting air quotes around mutant. My face turned stone hard. "Explain." I demanded. He started to feel awkward. "You are half werewolf and half vampire." he said. Jagger gasped. "So, do you have a _Fang_ then?" Iggy said, snickering. "Aw shut up Iggy!" a voice said from a cage to the right of Iggy's.

I looked over and there was a guy who was smoking hot and emo looking! I squealed. "Omg! Are you one of those emo scene guys?" I asked him. He looked at me, annoyed. "Great, we have one of those girls, and no. I'm not emo and what the heck is scene?" he asked. I looked at him and shook my head. "Never mind." I sighed. I felt jealousy somewhere to my left, when I looked it was Jagger.

Awkward silence... "Gay baby!" I shouted. They looked at me. "Why are you acting like that?" Jagger asked, he looked like he kind of liked it. "Act how? Normal?" he shook his head. "No, comfortable." I shrugged. "Vampires learn to adapt." I said. He nodded. Jeb clapped his hands. "Okay then, Miss. Vanessa, you will be a...student here and Jagger will be your guide." he smiled. I snorted. "You mean I'm a lab rat slash slave and he's the guy who makes sure I don't do anything you don't want me to do." I said bitterly. He sighed. "The lab rat part...kind of, but Jagger will be more like a bodyguard." he said.

I burst out laughing. Jagger frowned and Fang and Iggy started laughing with me. "Do you doubt my abilities?" Jagger hissed. I shook my head, unable to talk at the moment. Once I calmed down, I answered his question. "No, I mean why would a vampire werewolf need protection?" I laughed. Jeb put a hand on my shoulders and looked at me. "You will be training with the erasers and will be with them most of the time." he said as though it was supposed to mean something. "Okay, and?" I said. He looked into my eyes. "These guys are very mature for their age if you- oh how do the kids say it? - catch my drift?" my eyes widened. I did catch his drift.

"Awesome. Bodyguard, all for it." I said. He nodded and looked at Jagger. "Jagger, take her to her room, oh and I took the liberty of getting you one of the double ones so you can always stay with her." my mouth dropped. "I have to share a frickin room with him?" I shrieked. He nodded. I groaned. "Whatever, at least it's better than cages." Fang grumbled. I nodded and smiled, an idea rushing to me. I ran back to where my cage was and looked for Angel but, I couldn't remember which cage was hers. "Over here." she whispered. I ran over to her cage and grinned. "Look, I'm not taking you out but, you are going to love what I'm going to do! And, it's for everyone!" I giggled. All the other cages started to rattle and kids were screaming in excitement and all these guys in white coats came out and tried to quiet them all down with threats and then they saw me out of my cage. I yanked my wand out of my boots and waved it in a huge circle and cried "Si ingrandiscono!"**(A/N: that means 'get bigger' in Italian.)** All the kids cheered louder. I smiled and cried, "Enjoy! I hope that makes your lives a little better." then Jagger took my face and looked at me. "What did you do?" he whispered in awe. I smiled "I forgot. I'm an Italian wizard." I admitted. He grinned, "That's amazing." he cried. Then he took my wand and kneeled, slowly sliding it back into my boots. I started blushing and then he stood up and I looked away, he laughed."Let's get to your room and get to know each other." he said winking. And with that, he grabbed my hand and led me through the crowd of white coats and mutant kids and 'erasers'.


	2. Hello Max, i

Jagger led me through the maze of hallways to our room as cheering mutant kids rattled in their cages. I guess that was their way of showing gratitude. Ever since we had left Angel, an awkward silence grew between us. "So…" Jagger said. I looked up from the ground and at him. "So what?" I asked. He stopped for a minute and looked at me. "what exactly did you do miss. Vampire-werewolf-wizard?" he asked. I laughed and, once again, surprised myself. "And why do you look so surprised when you laugh? It's stupid." He said. I frowned at the last part and started walking again. "Are you going to answer me?" Jagger asked impatiently as he followed. I nodded. "Yeah, um, well their cages were so cramped so…" I trailed off. He stopped walking and went to a cage with a little boy in it. I followed and stopped, sniffing the air. I smelled…blood. It smelled wonderful but, I couldn't take blood from a defenseless child, I swore that I wouldn't. So I held my nose and backed away as Jagger looked into the cage at what I've done. He looked at me and I quickly removed my hand. "You made the inside of their cages bigger? That's impossible! The cage is still the same size!" he said in disbelief. I sighed. "In my world it is…or what's left of it anyways." I said, saying the last part to myself. Jagger looked at me and sighed. "I'm not going to ask…yet. Come on, let's just get to our room, and then we'll ask the questions." I nodded and followed him as we went to our room. We just turned a corner when a rough voice called out Jagger's name. His eyes widened and he grabbed my hand, pulling me into a room that was empty except a few tables and a cage. He looked me dead in the eye and said, "stay here, I'll be right back." Then he turned around and left the room. I waited a few seconds and moaned. "Finally!" I stretched and then bent over to grab my wand, but then a voice said, "Who are you and what the heck are you doing here?" I whirled around and saw that the voice was from the cage. Thanks to my vampire vision, I didn't have to get all up in her face to see her features. She looked tall and had long wavy blonde hair that reached to the middle of her back. She also had wings. They were beautiful, white with tan speckles. _I wonder if she's related to Angel or Iggy or Fang…_.I looked at her face and noticed that she looked pissed and ready for a fight. I, once again, reached for my back pocket for my knife just to find that it was gone because, would you look at that, no pocket. I groaned on the inside. "My name is Vanessa Marie, who are you?" I asked pleasantly, which seemed to bug her. She snorted. "I don't talk to white coat kids." She sneered. I looked at her, confused. She sighed in annoyance. "You're obviously not a mutant. You're too…normal." That's when it happened. My dark side took over; I felt the shadows and despair wash through me. I began to cackle and reached out my hand and caught the floor around the cage on fire, shadows and souls from the depth came through the flames, trying to touch her. I could feel her fear, but she didn't let it show. "Normal am I? I can assure you that I am not normal, but I am not a mutant either." I cackled. I felt something cold and hard hit the back of my head and blacked out.

I woke up to see Jagger's face; he seemed relieved when he saw I was ok. "What happened?" I groaned, getting up, trying to get off the table, but I couldn't. I looked down at my wrists and got pissed real quick. "What the mess! Who the crap chained me to a freaking table?" I cried, tugging at the chain. I heard a groan. "Shut up! The world doesn't revolve around you!" I looked up and saw that bird kid glaring at me. _That's what you think._ I smirked. "How's it feel to get roasted, chicken?" I said. She looked really mad now. "That's it! You wanna go?" she yelled, trying to get off the table just like me. But before I could respond, Jeb walked in and smiled. "Ah, I see you two have met." I looked at him. Big mistake. Suddenly the bird kid broke the chain and did a round-house kick to my chest and I fell onto the table which crashed to the floor. I stood up and wiped my mouth and drew back a bloody hand. I heard Jeb gasp and Jagger say, "oh my shiz!" I glared at her as the chain began to melt, falling in little drips to the floor. "I know you did not just do that." I growled. She smirked. "How's it feel to have a tummy ache sparky?" she said snidely. I smiled darkly at her. "I am so hungry…never had chicken before." I growled, my fangs coming out. I lurched towards her and smacked her, making her crash into the other side of the room. She jumped up and threw a punch, neatly clipping my right cheek. Usually I would back off but, I was too hungry not to, so I slammed her into the other table with a good old Spartan kick. Then, I was next to her in the blink of an eye and sank my teeth into her arm, tasting her sweet, sweet blood. I moaned in delight and let go of her arm…well, my mouth did anyways. I sat on her as she wriggled and took out my wand, and then traced the places where I had cut into her flesh, making it heal. Then she pushed me off of her but, well, now that I've been fed, she was no match. I felt my eye color change from blue to purple. Jagger just sat there staring at me and looked at Jeb smiling. Jeb smacked him in the back of his head. "Ow!" he cried. "How inappropriate Jagger." Jeb chided. The bird kid tapped my shoulder and I turned around. She extended her hand. "I know when I'm beat, and, well, you're pretty good." She said. I could tell she didn't do this much so I shook her hand and grinned. "Thanks for the upgrade." She raised her eyebrows. Jeb came closer, knowing what was going to happen. I gasped as I felt a searing pain in my back. "Agorme! Agorme!" I screamed out. And then, the pain was gone and I had wings. Beautiful black wings. I looked at Jeb as I folded my wings in. "you knew this was going to happen." I said. He nodded and turned to the bird kid. "Max, this is Vanessa Marie. Vanessa, this is Maximum Ride." He hesitated and we both stared at him. "What else is there?" We both said at the same time. He looked at the floor and then looked up at Max, then me, then back at Max. "Max, do you ever wonder about your family? And Vanessa, do you ever wonder what happened to your sister?" I nodded. My twin sister was still in my mom's tummy, nowhere close to being a developed baby when she gave her up. He sighed. "Max, do you remember how you always wanted a little sister?" she nodded. "I already have one, two in fact, Nudge and Angel." She said. Jeb shook his head. "Max, this is your real little sister." I froze and looked at Max. My twin sister. My older twin sister. I've finally found her.

And I sucked her blood.


	3. Ouch

Max and I sat there staring each other in disbelief. Then Max shook her head slowly. "No, she can't be my sister. She's a vampire and, well we look nothing alike. No, it's impossible." I nodded in agreement. "She doesn't look anything like my mother, or my father." I said, remembering the fight before I was taken to this horrid place. Jeb sighed. "All I'm allowed to say is that you have different mothers and different fathers." I gasped. "There's no way…." I whispered. Jeb nodded. "But, that hasn't happened in over a thousand years! And why would the gene skip her?" I cried. I could feel Max's annoyance. I looked at her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to annoy you, but, we are twins. It's only happened once that pair of twins were born to different parents. What is Destiny thinking?" I said, saying the last part more for myself. "Destiny?" Max asked. I nodded. "I can't say now." I said looking at Jeb and Jagger. There was an awkward silence and then I felt anger emanating from Jagger. I looked at him but he showed no sign of anger. Jeb looked at his watch and his eyes bugged out of his head. "Good grief! Vanessa and Max need to get back to their places, it's checking." Max groaned and Jagger grabbed my arm. "Come on, we have to go." He said. I frowned. "What about sorella?" I asked…sorella is Italian for sister. I looked at Max's burnt cage. I pulled my wand out of my boot and waved it towards her cage, which fixed itself. She smiled. "Thanks…sis." My eyes watered. I was about to reply when we heard footsteps. Jagger picked me up and walked out the door. About five minutes later, we reached our room. My half was Victorian style with everything being black and purple…but it also had some modern stuff, like a plasma TV and a laptop. Jagger's room was awesome. It was neon green and black and very modern. He grinned. "Finally I got an upgrade, the guys will be so jealous now." He laughed and turned to me. "Ima go take a shower, you go get used to your room and change or something, and I'll be there in a few minutes." He said, smiling. I smiled and walked through the huge master bathroom that connected our rooms. I looked around my room and found my stuff, strangely. I checked my bag for my knife but couldn't find it. "Looking for this?" a rough voice asked. I whirled around and saw a tall guy who looked about seventeen and like a super model. He had brown eyes and black hair. He didn't have any piercings but he had a tattoo of a scorpion on his left arm. I saw he was holding my knife. "Yes, yes I am. Now please hand it over." I said, walking up to him to take the knife, but he held it above his head and laughed. "If you can reach it, maybe." I groaned. Why must everyone make fun of my 5'3ness? I kept jumping up to reach it but he just laughed. That made me really mad, so I punched him in the face and twisted his arm, taking the knife from him and holding it to his throat. "Stay out of my room, don't take my stuff and do not, do _not_ make fun of my height. Is that understood?" he growled. "Yes, that's understood." So I released him and pushed him towards the door, locking it when he was out in the hall. I walked back over to my stuff, putting my knife under my pillow. I picked up the bag my stuff was in and sat on my bed, dumping out the stuff onto the comforter. I sifted through my crap and smiled. "Yes! My iPod!" I cried, jumping up and down. I turned on my favorite song and rocked out as I looked for my favorite outfit. I found it about ten minutes later and smiled. It was a pair of black shorts with buckles on them and a place where I could hide my knife in the side stitching. The shirt was a purple tank top that went with a black vest thing and, to top it off, a neon green ribbon and knee high combat boots. I put the boots under my bed and slipped the ones I was wearing off and under the bed next to my combats. I took my wand and wrapped it up with the shorts and tank, hiding it under my other pillow. Then I sat on my bed and pretended I was somewhere else, with someone else. Not here at this terrible school, not here with Jeb or those Erasers. I wish I was in the secluded meadow where I had grown up, where I had learned what it meant to be a hybrid, but in my head, it was different. I was a little girl again, only I had Max with me, flying around meadow, throwing flowers on everyone even though I know she probably wouldn't do that. Even Jagger was there, learning what it was to be a werewolf… I gasped and sat up, realizing I had been lying down. I couldn't hear the water running anymore so I took my wand from my clothes bundle and my knife with me as I went to take a shower. It felt so good to take a shower, letting the hot water run over my skin, but then I remembered all the kids in cages who couldn't do what I was doing so I changed it to ice water…which still felt amazing. I smiled as I remembered playing under the waterfall with my dad when I was five and tripped, chipping my fang. I had never cried so hard in my life, I thought I couldn't be a vampire anymore. I shut off the water and stepped out wrapping my towel around me. I looked at my reflection. I had curly, short platinum blonde hair and was extremely pale. _Huh, I guess I don't need disguises anymore._ I thought, so I took my wand and twirled my hair around it. The second my hair touched the smooth oak, it turned from curly to straight, short to long, platinum blonde to a deep, rich brown color, and pale to not as paleo . Strange, I could still totally tell it was me and not someone else…I wonder if Jagger would make the same mistake. I slipped my white dress back on and blow dried my hair, pinning my bangs back. I walked into Jagger's room to see that he wasn't there. I frowned. I shrugged, turned around and walked into my room. I almost had a heart attack when my door slammed shut…and it wasn't me slamming it. I whirled around to see Jagger. I sighed in relief and walked over to my bed. "Jesus Christ, Jagger, you scared the shiz out of me." I said. He laughed and sat on the edge of my bed. "I knew you weren't a blonde." He said. I shrugged. He started to laugh, "You ain't stupid enough to be one." I looked at him and cocked my head. "Are you from the South?" he nodded, "my mom's from Arkansas, where are you from?" I groaned on the inside._ And so the questions begin._ "No, I'm from Italy." I said. He smiled. "I was a test tube baby in Germany." He said. I frowned and became depressed again. He frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked. I looked at him. "How come all those other kids are in cages? How come Max can't stay with me? How old are you? Why was I brought here? Why do all these erasers look so hot?" I asked, feeling stupid after the last question came out of my mouth. He sighed. "Because they're experiments, they weren't supposed to be born that way, unlike you who were born this way and Max, man, she's a handful." He laughed. "Um, let's see, I am sixteen and, well, you were brought here because you are the first of your kind known to man. You were somehow exposed, the school found out and they wouldn't stop to get you." He said, I could feel his anger bubbling some, then flattery took its place, _wha?_ "So…you think we're hot?" I paused. Jagger was so normal, I totally forgot he was an eraser…. I shrugged. "I guess." He grinned. There was knocking coming from the other room and Jagger jumped up. "I'll be right back." he said. I nodded and he closed the door that led to the bathroom, the only way out. I heard voices and then a ruckus. "Stay away from there!" Jagger snarled. Next thing I know, that same guy from before opened my door wide open and seven hot super model guys walked into my room. From where I was, I could see Jagger writhing on the floor in pain in his room. I looked at the guy and smirked. "Hello, did you come back for more? I could have sworn we had an understanding." I said, reaching for my knife. Someone grabbed my arm and slung me over their shoulder. I screamed. "Put me down you filthy mutt!" I screeched. He just laughed and took me out of my room, through the bathroom, and passed Jagger. He looked at me and got angry and tried to get up. That's when I saw it. His white shirt was soaked with blood. Motivation. I kicked the guy holding me in the gut and he threw me on the ground. I crawled between legs, biting them every time one of the erasers tried to touch me until they ran out of the room. I rolled Jagger over and pulled off his shirt. It was ugly. He had three, thick scars running along his abs. I gasped. "What the heck did they do?" I cried. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. "They overpowered me, it was totally unexpected, and they had the advantage." He whispered, the pain showing in his voice. I touched his scar and he moaned. I put his head in my lap and looked at his eyelids. "Where does it hurt most?" he opened his eyes and looked at me. "The last one." I looked at the last one and flushed, that totally would have sucked for him if it was any lower. "Oh…that was close." I said. He rolled his eyes before closing them. I kissed his forehead and whispered into his ear. "I'll take the pain away; I promise I'll make it better." I set his head on one of the pillows and went over to his abs and placed my hands on him and made a connection and gasped. His pain is so…painful. He flew up and stared at me in disbelief as I sat there on the floor writhing in pain. Then, my dress began to feel wet I looked at my stomach. My dress was turning red. Jagger picked me up and ran through the vast number of halls. I laughed feebly. "See? I told you I'd make it better." I whispered. He looked at m, tears in his eyes. "You never said you'd kill yourself to do it." He said. I smiled. "I'll be fine." I whispered. Then, I passed out.


	4. it is not a date!

I had been floating in the black water of unconsciousness for days, waiting for the stupid white-coats to stop poking me with needles that would just break. I had fed recently and my strength was to its max, as was my skin, stronger than rock really. _I'm tired of waiting, just stop poking me already!_ I screamed in my head. I heard laughter. _You might as well give up and walk out Van._ Angel thought. We've been chatting the last couple of days, reading each other's thoughts. I sighed, opened my eyes and sat up. I groaned. "Needles aren't going to work; you can't penetrate my skin at the moment so I'd appreciate it if you would stop jabbing them at me." I complained. The white-coats whirled around and gasped. "Someone go get Jeb!" one of them shouted. I saw Jagger out of the corner of my eye and grinned. His mouth dropped and he walked over and crushed me into him. I blushed and hugged him back. He pulled away and looked me in the eye. "How, but, you, you died!" he said. I shook my head. "One of the hybrid benefits, we can shut down our systems." I explained. He laughed and hugged me again, then gave me a serious look. "Don't ever do that again! Ya hear me?" he said. I blushed and nodded. Then Jeb walked in. he smiled. "Good job, I'm impressed." He said. I shrugged. "It was nothing." I said. He smiled. "Okay, well, we have an important matter to deal with now; I think you'd be excited." He said. I looked at him. "What do you mean?" he smiled again and looked at Jagger, who was grinning like crazy. _Was this all planned or something?_ Jeb smirked as if he knew what I was thinking. "How would you like a night on the town?" he asked. My mouth dropped. "No way!" I shouted. He nodded. I looked at Jeb, "is Max and Angel allowed to come too?" Jeb shook his head. I frowned. "Don't worry, I have a surprise for all of you, but it'll be a little later, okay?" I nodded. _It is so a date!_ Angel squealed in my head. I groaned. "No it is not!" I shouted out loud. I blushed. "sorry." I mumbled. I heard Angel laughing outside. I ripped the IV out of my arm, stood up and stretched, yawning. "So where, when and with who?" I asked as the white-coats left, seeing that I wasn't going to break out of here. Jagger smiled. "Vegas, tonight and with me, Jeb, and someone else that Jeb refuses to reveal." He said. I smiled. "Ok." And with that, I walked out the room.

I was in my room, looking for something to wear when I heard a light knock on my door. I looked up. "Come in." I said, even though I had no clue who it could be. I looked back to my closet and started to look again. "Van, Nudge. Nudge, Vanessa Marie." I paused. _Angel…_ "Marie? Marie what?" Nudge said. _Its fine Van, she's a bird kid too._ I smiled and turned around. "Just Marie…well, I guess it could be Ride." I said thoughtfully. Angel laughed. "Well, since you have a date tonight, I brought Nudge here to help you pick something out." Nudge gasped. "You have a date? With Iggy or Fang?" Angel's lip twitched. I frowned. "For one, it's not a date. I mean, seriously, he's sixteen and I just turned fourteen." Nudge frowned and then she realized who it was. "You're going on a date with Jagger?" she cried. I covered her mouth with my hand. "No! It's not a date, it's just—" but I got cut off when Nudge took my hand off her mouth. "That's so cute! Can I go to your wedding?" I slapped my face and Angel elbowed her. "Just pick something out for her!" she nodded and went into my closet. I waited a few minutes and sighed. "I'm going to go take a shower or something." Angel shook her head. "Jagger's in there styling his hair and you're not allowed to see each other yet." _styling his hair? Going to Vegas? Guys wouldn't do that unless… _I gasped. "So it really is a date?" I cried. She nodded. "I read Jeb's mind and he wants you guys to get more connected, especially with who you're going to see tonight." I slapped my face. "That's just awesome." I muttered. I paused for a second, thinking. _Nah, Jagger doesn't think of me like that. We're just friends…right?_ Nudge came out of the closet and shoved me a small pile of clothes. "Here you go, now change and we'll do your hair!" I groaned. "Does Max know what torture you're putting me through?" they laughed and that made me laugh along, so I changed. Nudge had picked out a pair of black ripped skinny jeans, a hot pink tube top, and a pair of gray DCs. I grinned and gave Nudge a high five. I put the clothes on and man, did I feel awesome! _Now for the hair…I hope no hairspray will be involved…_ Angel laughed. "We won't use hair spray, just a few hair ties and ribbons!" she said, smiling. I groaned. "There is no way in hell that's going to happen." I growled. They frowned at me. "Well, at least take the highlights! The neon will look so pretty in your hair!" Nudge pouted. I sighed on the inside. "Fine." I walked over to my nightstand and picked up my iPod. Angel and Nudge walked up to me, looking at it. "What the heck is that?" Nudge asked. "I think it's that thing I told you about, you know, an iPod? It plays music!" Angel said excitedly. I looked at them. "You act like you've never seen one before." I said. Angel smiled. "Not this close. Some of the younger white-coats have one." She said. I frowned. "Well, I'm going to get you one then." I said, putting it into my iHome. I went through the lists and smiled, putting on one of my favorite bands-Never Shout Never. I smiled as the singer talked about how super duper cute this girl was. Nudge giggled. "I like this song!" I laughed and sat down. "Fine, do whatever you want with me!" I said and they got to work.

"Are you done yet?" I asked for the fifth time. Nudge stepped back and smiled. "yup." I finally got up, stretched and went to the bathroom to look into the mirror. They had curled my hair and it was pretty. In some places, I had neon pink highlights, but they were underneath so you couldn't see them at the roots. There was a knock on the door that made me jump. "Jagger you can't come in!" Angel shouted. I heard a sigh. "I know, but there's a change of plans…" he trailed off. "What do you mean a change of plans?" I asked. I could sense that he was feeling embarrassed. "Jeb wants us to, uh, dress up and go somewhere fancy…."I froze. "Like...a date?" his embarrassment deepened. "Kind of, but it's not a date, just sounds like a date and looks like one. Besides, that other person will be there too." He said quickly. I groaned. "Okay, I'll grab a dress." I looked at Nudge. "Okay, fashion advisor. I need a dress." She sighed and went back to the closet.

She came out with a dress and grinned. "Hell no! I am not wearing that!" I tried to rush to the door but Angel caught me by the arm. "Aw come on! It's for Jeb and Jagger!" I groaned and took the dress. It was like a wedding dress only it was black instead of white, and a little less poufy and went up to my knees. "Gorgeous!" Nudge said, I snorted. "Just give me my converse and a neon green sash please." I never go completely classy, not my thing. So she handed over my shoes and sash as I sat down, thinking. _Why me? Why did they have to choose me?_ "Because of the legend." Angel said, motioning me to stand up. I did as I was told and stood. "What legend?" I asked her. She smiled as she tied the long green sash around my waist. "You'll see, Jeb's going to tell you…and also because you're Max's sister." She shrugged. I sat back down and pulled on my shoes. "Ok, stand up!" Nudge squealed. I stood up and twirled around for her. She grinned and looked at Angel, who nodded and grabbed my camera. "Whoa whoa whoa! What do you think you're doing?" I said. She smiled and said, "We want to take pictures and load it up on that thing you call MySpace or Facebook!" I almost died as they took pictures. "So…why aren't you upset?" they paused. For once, Angel couldn't read my mind. "About?" she asked. I shrugged. "Bout me going on this so called date with Jagger, I mean he kicked your cages and that was pretty mean." Angel laughed. "he doesn't really mean it, he just has to play tough because if he gets soft, he has to go." She explained. There was a knock on my door and Jagger walked in wearing a white button up shirt with a black vest over it and a pair of black suit pants and he had a jacket in his hand. I looked him down; he did the same and hung his head, blushing. "You look real pretty." He mumbled. I laughed. "You look quite dashing yourself!" I said, smiling. He immediately looked up and grinned. "Seriously?" he asked. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I'm being super serial over here." He laughed and handed me the jacket. "Here, um, I didn't know if you had one so…yah."I put it on and smiled. "Thanks." He looked at me for a few seconds and said "so, um, where did the wings go?" I shrugged. "Um, I can kind of absorb them back into my body, makes it easier." He nodded, acting like he was listening when in reality; he was messing with my iPod. I sighed. "Ignorance is your new best friend." I mumbled to myself, quoting Paramore. He laughed. "I didn't know you were Ignorance." He said. I rolled my eyes. "Let's just leave, ok?" I said. he laughed and grabbed my wrist and led me to the door.


	5. old friends

We had been in the car for ten minutes before I finally went insane. "Oh my gosh! When will we get there and who's this stupid mystery person!" I cried out. Jeb looked up at me from his book, completely calm, unlike Jagger who had a startled look on his face. Jeb sighed. "Be patient Vanessa, we'll be there soon and I'm afraid that I'm not allowed to reveal who it is, he wants to surprise you." He said, going back to his book. Jagger stared at Jeb. "He?" he asked. Jeb nodded, not looking up. "Yes, he." Jagger snorted. I rolled my eyes and gave Jagger my iPod. "Here, knock yourself out." He'd been eyeing it the whole trip. He grinned and took it graciously. "Thanks, V." he said. I froze when he said that. Someone else used to call me that…someone who had feelings for me…did I have feelings for him too? Then I had a massive headache. I took a sharp intake of breath and squeezed my eyes shut, my hands balling into fists against my temple. A memory was coming to me, playing like a little movie in my head…

"_V? Can I ask you something?" I looked at the mysterious guy who looked so familiar. He was tall, lean, and quite handsome. He looked pretty strong, he didn't have bulging muscles but you could definitely see them beneath his tight shirt. He had longish black hair and forest green eyes. "Of course you can Leo, but that doesn't mean I'll answer." I replied with a laugh. We were on a bridge, leaning against the railing staring at the water and the setting sun. He stared at the ducks for a few seconds then looked at me. "V, I'm being serious." He said. I sighed. "Yeah, ask away." I said, staring at the reflection of the setting sun against the water. "What am I to you?" he asked me. I rolled my eyes. "Leo, you're my best friend, like, my closest one. You know that." I said. He sighed. I looked at him, confused. "Why do you ask?" I asked cautiously. He smiled weakly at me. "Is that it? Just…a friend?" I looked at him. "No, a best friend." I said. He frowned at me. "Well, yeah, a friend." I said weakly. Every time he frowned at me, there was this overwhelming, overpowering look in his eyes that made me feel faint. Sadness came into his eyes. "Do you think that'll ever change?" he asked quietly, taking a step closer to me. I hesitated. "What exactly do you mean?" I said my voice unable to reach anything above a whisper. "Do you think that we'd ever be more than best friends?" he asked. I froze. "You mean…like…?" it was obvious what I meant. He took my hands in his, looking into my eyes. "yeah." He said. My heart stopped and I don't know why. I thought for a moment. "I don't know…maybe." I hesitated. "Why?" I asked him. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer and he whispered into my ear. "Because, V. I love you, I've been in love with you ever since we met and I want us to be more than just friends."_

My eyes snapped open then. Jagger poked me. "Hey, V, you okay?" I nodded, suddenly weak. "Yeah, I was just dreaming." I said. Jeb looked at me. "What was it about?" he asked me. I shivered as I remembered the look in that guy Leo's eyes. "A memory." I said quietly. I guess that they heard the note of I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it in my voice because they didn't ask again. We sat in silence for about five minutes when the car came to a stop. I looked at Jeb. "Are we here?" I asked. He nodded. I looked out the window. It was night now and Vegas was lit up and looked amazing. We were at a casino called Starlight, and it looked very exclusive. Jeb opened the door and got out, followed by Jagger who quickly came around the side of the car and opened the door for me, smiling sheepishly. I giggled. "Thank you Mr. Jagger." I said as I stepped out, taking my Pokémon plush backpack out of the car, slinging it on my back. He grinned and said, "You're very welcome Miss Vanessa." We both laughed until we heard someone clearing their throat. I looked up and Jeb was standing on the steps, waiting. "Come on you two, we're a little late and he's waiting for us as we speak." He said impatiently. I rolled my eyes and followed Jagger up the steps and through the doors. The inside was amazing. There were dozens of pool tables, poker tables, and all the other casino stuff all over the place, with a giant crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, level with the second story where rich people were dining and laughing together. In the corner closest to us was a lovely spiral staircase, leading to the second story. Jeb was walking towards it and Jagger and I quickly followed him up the stairs. When we got to the top, a man in a tux walked up and asked if we had reservations. Jeb nodded and whispered to the man. He nodded and took us to a secluded part of the dining area where a guy around Jagger's age sat, his back facing us. Somehow, he knew we arrived. "Ah, it's about time you got here, I thought you ditched me." He said in a familiar voice. Then he stood up and faced us, his eyes on me. I froze. He smiled. "I guess you somewhat recognize me?" he asked. Jagger tensed beside me. I nodded. He walked up, took my hand, and kissed it lightly. "It's been too long Vanessa Marie." He said. I couldn't speak. He sighed and turned to Jagger. "You're Jagger right?" he asked, extending his hand. Jagger nodded and shook it. "And you would be?" he asked. The guy looked at me out of the corner of his eyes. "Leo." I said quietly. Leo beamed. "For a moment there, I thought you couldn't speak." I snorted at his little remark. "Of course I speak, do I look mute to you?" I said. He chuckled and looked at Jeb. "It's a pleasure to see you Jeb." He said, shaking his hand. Jeb nodded. "Likewise Leo." He said. He smiled and motioned towards the table. "Please, take a seat." He said. He walked over to a chair next to his and pulled it out for me. I took a seat as Jagger took the one next to me and Jeb sat across from me. Leo looked at me and laughed. "Nice backpack. Is that Shayman?" he asked. I nodded. He sighed. "Now we're back to no speaking I see." Then the waiter came. "To drink?" he asked. I spoke first. "I'll have a large coke please." He stared at me. I frowned. "What? Do you not have coke?" I asked. He shook his head. "No, we do, it is just that usually, women here don't ask for Coke, let aside a large one." He said. Then he took everyone else's order and left, coming back with our drinks a few minutes later. Jagger looked at Leo. "So how do you know each other?" he asked. Leo looked at him. "We grew up together. We're best friends actually." He said matter-of-factly. Jagger paused. "That's strange; she never mentioned that she had another best friend." He said. Leo glared at him. "For one, of course she wouldn't. She lost some memories. And two, what do you mean _another_ best friend?" Jagger looked uninterested as he sipped his Mountain Dew. "Well, I'm her new best friend." I cringed on the inside as Leo turned his icy glare on me. "_Her new best friend?"_ he quoted. I gulped. "Not like you were replaced, like, I have a new one to add." I said weakly. He sniffed. "Okay, as long as I'm still your closest one." He said, smirking at Jagger. Jagger smiled maliciously at him. "That's okay; I'll just stick with sharing a room with her I guess." Leo's eyes widened in outrage. "What?" he hissed angrily. I laughed nervously. "Well, I have to use the little girl's room." I said, quickly getting up. "No you don't. Now sit." Leo said with authority. I obeyed and sat back down, shooting Jeb a pleading look. He sighed. "Now boys, calm down and drop the issue. There's a lady in our presence." He said, waving his hand towards me. "Oh, we know that." Jagger said, his gaze locked with Leo's. Then he looked at me and grinned. "Sorry, V. I don't want to mess up your night." He said. I smiled. "That's okay." I said. Leo looked at me for a while and asked, "So what do you remember about me?" I shrugged. "Not a lot, the only memory of you that I have just flashed back today when we were on our way here." I said honestly. He frowned. "Which would be…?" he pressed. I shrugged, not wanting to describe the whole thing out loud. "About us that one day on the bridge." I said. He smiled. "Ah, that one." He said. I could feel Jagger's confusion and frustration. I looked at him. "I'll tell you later." I said. He nodded. Leo took my hand under the table. I looked at him. I hated this. I felt like he had a motive of some sort but…it was so hard to read his emotions, they were so chaotic and confusing. "And do you have an answer yet?" he asked quietly. Thankfully, I was saved for the waiter when he came to take our orders. It took me forever to decide what I wanted. Then he mentioned chocolate cake. "I'll take that." I said. He rolled his eyes. I giggled and he walked away, eyeing my 'kiddy' backpack. Sadly, Leo didn't drop the subject thought. "So, have you?" he pursued. I shrugged. "Hard to say since I only have one memory of you." I replied. He laughed then. "Yeah, I guess it would, huh?" I laughed too, taking my hand from his and propping my head against it on the table. "Vanessa, it's rude to have your elbows on the table." Leo chided gently. I had this feeling that he used to do that a lot. I looked at him, a blank expression on my face. "And your point is?" I asked. He rolled his eyes and gently took my arm off the table. Jagger sighed. "Let her do what she wants, this is supposed to be a nice evening for her to enjoy." He said, looking up at the ceiling. Leo frowned. "There's a difference between being rude and enjoying yourself." I frowned. "Okay, new rule. If you have something mean to say, shut up." I said. Leo smiled. Then the food came. I dug into my chocolate cake as soon as it appeared in front of me. I moaned in delight. "This is so chocolately!" I squealed. Jagger laughed. "You dork." He smiled. I smiled and took a sip of coke. Then I remembered something. "Jeb?" I asked. He finished chewing his steak and looked at me. "Yes Vanessa?" he replied. I hesitated then asked, "What's the legend about me?" I asked. Leo practically choked on his shrimp. "What? How do you know about that?" he demanded, that overpowering look coming to his eyes. I gulped. "I saw it in someone's mind." I said quietly. His head snapped to Jagger. "I guess it was your feeble mind?" he said. I frowned. "No, it was not his mind, and it isn't feeble either." I snapped. Jagger nodded in agreement. Leo turned to me. "Then who?" he hissed. I glared at him. "No one of your concern." I said stubbornly. He looked mad, but then sighed and smiled weakly. "You are so stubborn, just as I remembered." he said. I shrugged. "It's one of my best and most memorable qualities." I said. Jagger laughed at that. Jeb sighed. "Well, as you know, you are the last of your kind." He said. I looked at him. "I'm the last Hybrid?"I whispered. Jeb hesitated, looking at Leo. "Not only that, but the last vampire and the last werewolf." He said quietly. I froze. "Wh-what?" I stammered. I looked at Leo. "Then how could we have grown up together?" I asked. He sighed. "The gene skipped me entirely, just like your sister Max." he said. I froze. "How do you know Max?" I asked, extremely confused. He shrugged. "I've been to the school a few times, I've worked with the bird kids when I visited." I just stared at him then shook my head slowly. "Ok, so I'm the last one, what's that to do with the legend?" I asked Jeb. "There was an epic battle," Jagger started. I looked at him; there was a grim expression on his face. "Vampires, werewolves, and hybrids against the humans, who had rebelled against them. They hadn't drunken any blood so they were very weak and the humans won. But some of the hybrids managed to escape, including your parents." He said. I nodded; my parents had told me of the war. "And?" I asked, urging him to press on. "And they found a secluded meadow where they couldn't be found and they had you years later when they had figured out a way to live without human blood." I smiled. "Animal blood." I said. He nodded. "Yeah. But about four years ago, the School found out about you. It rumored that you were the strongest and would emerge as the world's greatest warrior and conqueror, so they figured that with you on their side, they could use the legend to their advantage. So they sent a few people to study them, mainly you and your family. The village assumed they were with your family mostly because they were leaders in the battle, they never suspected that they actually knew of the legend." Jagger took another sip of Mountain Dew before continuing. "So, they finally decided that the time to take you to the School had arrived so they sent Erasers to your village and attacked, killing every last one of the hybrids. And that brings us up to today." I froze as I remembered fighting along with my father against the strange wolf things attacked our village. "Did you attack my village? Did you kill my father?" I whispered, tears forming in my eyes. He shook his head. "No, I didn't. I was training new Erasers when it happened." He said. I nodded. "Okay…so the legend is that I'll become this awesome warrior and conqueror?" I asked. Jagger nodded. "But there's more to it." Leo had cut in. I looked at him. "It's said that whoever she loves can control her, therefore, you'd be their weapon and you'd have no choice but to obey." I stared at him and frowned. "Is that what that day on the bridge meant?" I asked. He hesitated. "Yes, but only so that anyone that was power hungry wouldn't take advantage of you. I would never do that, I wanted to—want to—protect you." He said, looking into my eyes. I turned away and let my head fall to the table. I sighed. "That's just nice." I grumbled. Jeb chuckled. i glared at him, I had this weird hunch. "What's Max have to do with it?" his face paled. "well…she has her own legend thing to fulfill and hers will later intertwine with yours when an epic battle will commence." I looked down at my lap, thinking. "And that's precisely why we're here." Jeb said. I snapped up and glared at him. "Explain, now. And don't sit there beating around the bush." I demanded. He nodded. "Well, we've given you two people to whom you could be with." I just sat there. "And who would that be?" Jagger asked Jeb. Jeb smiled, still looking at me. "You may choose between Leo," he said, gesturing his hand to a smirking Leo. "And Jagger." He finished. Jagger choked on his Mountain Dew. I frowned. "Am I that bad?" I asked, offended. He shook his head. "No, that's not it. I just figured Fang or Iggy or Ari would be a choice, not me." He said, looking at Jeb. Jeb laughed. "No, definitely not Ari, he's too young." He said. Jagger grinned. "Yeah, I guess he is, ain't he?" Leo cleared his throat. "Well, that's certainly not quite fair to me or Vanessa." I looked at him. "What you mean?" I asked him. He sniffed. "Well, we don't ever see each other, yet you share a room with the dog." He said. I frowned. "Jagger's not a dog." I said. He rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He said. Jeb looked at Leo. "This is precisely why you'll come to the school at least once a day." He said. Leo smiled. "Sounds good to me." He squeezed my hand under the table. Suddenly, my phone went off. Jagger looked startled. "What the?" he said. I blushed. "Sorry, got a text message." I said, pulling it out. "Vanessa…" Leo began. "Yeah yeah, whatever." I grumbled, sliding my phone open. It was from an unknown number. The message said:

Hey V! its Angel and Nudge! We 'borrowed' one of the white-coats phone to text you! It is so cool! Oh, almost forgot, how is your date going? Did you kiss him yet?

I sighed and texted back.

You better not get caught! And it is so not a date! And there has been no kissing! Actually, it is, like, a nightmare!:( I'll tell you later, Leo is reading over my shoulder. Love ya!

V

Leo frowned. "jerk." He muttered. I rolled my eyes. Then, I heard Angel's voice in my head._ What! Did you just say—or text really—that Leo was there?_ I groaned. _Uh, yeah, yeah I did. Why?_ I asked in my mind. _Don't trust him, V. I have a bad feeling about him…something's not right about him._ She thought cautiously. _Don't worry, I'll watch out._ I told her, there was no reply so I went back to my cake. When I finished my cake, I looked back to Jeb. "Ok, so how did you get these guys as my choices?" I asked. He shrugged. "We figured since Leo grew up with you, you'd choose him, but then you started to lose some memories so we chose another person at random, Jagger. Quite simple really." He said, taking a sip of beer. I yawned. "Is it nappy time, V?" Jagger teased. I rolled my eyes. "No, for you maybe." I shot back. We laughed. Then I heard dishes clatter and a woman crying out in surprise. I whirled around in my seat and my mouth fell open. _Is that who I think it is?_ A waiter about, of course, Jagger and Leo's age was standing there with a tray of toppled drink glasses at his bare feet, gaping at me. He was tall, had golden blonde hair and had grey eyes that looked just like Iggy's… "Vanessa?" he croaked. I gasped. It was who I thought he was! "Samuel?" I asked in shock. A grin broke across his face. "I knew it was you!" he cried. I jumped up and gave him a hug. He hugged me back and spun me around in a circle then put me down. "Oh my gosh, how have you been?" I asked. He grinned. "Pretty good, got a job as you can see." I laughed. "Yeah, hey when are you off?" I asked him. "What time is it?" he asked. I looked at a clock. "Eleven thirty." I answered. He grinned. "Well then, I am now off." I grinned. "Cool, wanna pull up a chair?" I asked. "What!" Leo and Jagger cried out in harmony. I looked at them. "Guys, don't be rude!" I chided. Leo snorted. "You're one to talk, V." he said. I rolled my eyes and walked to the table and took my seat. Samuel followed and pulled up a chair next to me. Jeb cleared his throat. I looked at him. "What?" I asked, taking a sip of my coke. Jeb smiled. "Aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?" he asked. I slapped myself in the face. "Oh! Right!" Samuel started tapping my shoulder. "Hey, where's your glass? I want a sip." He said. Jagger raised an eyebrow. "Dude, its right in front of you." He said as though he were speaking to a complete and utter moron. Samuel frowned. "Well, pardon me for being blind." He said, waving his hand in front of his face. Jagger frowned. "But then how are you a waiter if you can't see?" he asked. Samuel put his feet on the table. "I can feel the vibrations with my feet and my sense of smell is pretty good so I can memorize how the customer smells and I'll know what table to go to." He explained. "Oh, and your sense of hearing." I reminded him. He grinned. "Yeah, that too." Jeb smiled in fascination. "Wow, that's impressive. Better than Iggy even." He noted. Samuel cocked his head to the side. "Iggy?" he said. Jeb nodded. "Yes, he's an extremely gifted blind boy." He explained. Samuel nodded. Oh, hey, I almost forgot. "Oh, guys, this is Samuel." I looked at Samuel. "The one next to you is Jagger, the one across from you is Jeb, and the one next to me is Leo." Samuel nodded. "Pleasure to meet you guys." He said. Leo finally spoke up then. "Samuel? As in the pixie Samuel?" he asked. Samuel froze. "Excuse me?" he said, glaring at Leo. Leo smirked. "That's what I thought." he said. I frowned. "Pixie?" Jagger repeated. Samuel sighed. "Yes, as in the pixie Samuel." I glared at Leo. "Do you have to bring that up right now?" I hissed. He looked at me. "What? That's he was sent out to find you?" I paused and looked at Samuel. "Really?" I asked. He hesitated, and then nodded. "I volunteered. They would have sent Vic to do it." I shivered. "Ewe, thanks for volunteering." I said. He grinned. Leo grimaced. "What, you don't care that he was sent to win you over so the pixies could control you?" he asked, baffled and angry. I shrugged. "Well, Samuel's a friend." I said. Samuel nodded. "You bet I am." He agreed. Leo sighed. Then, Jeb got up and stretched. "Well, we better be leaving, it's getting late and Vanessa needs to start training tomorrow." I grinned. Samuel frowned. "Aw, but I just got here." He muttered. I took out a pen and wrote my number on his arm. "There, maybe we can get together sometime." I said. Leo snorted and Jagger rolled his eyes. I felt happiness emanating from Samuel. "Cool beans." He said, standing up. "Well, I guess I'll go to, later." He said, kissing the top of my head. Then he turned and left. I looked at Leo and smiled. "Well, it was great to see you again." I said, infected by Samuel's happy juice. He rolled his eyes. "yeah, whatever." I sighed. Then, I willed his phone to come out of his pocket and to come to my hand. He froze as I put my number in. then I tossed it back and picked up my bag. "Bye Leo." I said. I could feel his confusion, but there was also some contentment. I turned to Jagger and Jeb. Jeb's emotions had sleepy written all over it. Jagger's were hard to decipher. Jagger nodded. "Yeah, let's go." He took my hand then and led me down the stairs, through the door, and to the car waiting for us, Jeb right behind us. Then, we headed back to the school.


	6. Bitter Revenge

Jagger didn't talk the whole way back. _What the heck?_ We had gotten back to our room at about 1:30, that's when his undecipherable emotions were revealed. He was ticked. He took the shower first, still not speaking. I gave him a smile when I walked in while he was combing his hair, but he ignored me. I took a long shower, and then slipped into my pj's. I thought about it and decided that if he wanted to talk about it, he could bring it up, so I took out my laptop and got onto My Space. A few minutes later, he came in just wearing his neon green and black plaid boxer shorts. He sat on the edge of my bed and stared at me angrily. I sighed, put my laptop on my nightstand and looked at him. Before I could ask what was wrong, he said. "What the hell was that?" I paused. "What the hell was what?" I asked him, honestly confused. His eyes narrowed. "With Samuel." He said. I thought back to tonight. Then I realized something. Oh, hey, it looked like I was flirting with him. I sighed. "I wasn't flirting if that's what you mean." He glared. "Yeah, V. you were." I groaned. "No I wasn't! He's my cousin!" I said. He froze when I said that. "Wait what?" he said. I laughed. "Samuel's my cousin. His mom is my mom's twin. But the gene skipped her and then one day she met this guy and fell in love. She told my mom about him and when my mom met him, she realized he was a pixie and she told her that, she didn't care though. They loved each other with all their hearts and then one day he bit her and she became his pixie wife and years later, Samuel was born." As he digested this I went to my nightstand and pulled out some gum. When I turned back to him, he looked sad. "Sorry I jumped to conclusions. But why didn't you tell me?" he demanded. I shrugged. "Didn't think it was too important." He rolled his eyes, which made me laugh. He grinned and gave me a hug. Then, I felt this strong emotion. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I think it was something we both felt. He released me, his cheeks a little pink. "So I guess I'll let you get to sleep now." He said, heading to the door. I smiled weakly, not wanting him to leave. "Yeah, I guess so. Night." I said. he turned and smiled. "night." And then he turned and left.

That night, I had a dream. An exciting, exhilarating dream. It was of Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Angel and this other bird kid all escaping the school. And I was helping them. We were running across an outside area, then we jumped and unfurled our wings, flying away. I turned in the air and froze. Jagger was on the ground, fighting. He looked up at me and smiled. Blood was dripping down his face from a cut on his head. "Vanessa! Come on!" Angel cried from above. I looked up at her. "I'll be right back! I forgot something!" I cried out to her. She looked confused. Max turned around and looked at me. "Vanessa, come on! He knows what he's doing!" she cried. I shook my head, flying back to the school. _I won't leave him Max._ I thought in my mind. I flew down and landed on my feet…and was attacked immediately. So I fought my way over to Jagger and grabbed his hand he looked at me, surprised. "Come on!" I cried, pulling him. He seemed confused but he went along with it. Then he saw me unfurl my wings. "Vanessa!" he cried. But it was too late. I already jumped and we were in the air, me holding his hand. He looked terrified. "V! Put me down! I wasn't made for this!" he shouted. I shook my head and looked at him. "Do you trust me?" I asked him. Suddenly bullets started whizzing through the air, barely avoiding us. He nodded. I smiled. "Okay, here we go!" I cried. I grabbed his arm with both hands and threw him up in the air. He cried out in surprise and started falling. Then I caught up with him and held on to him. "V! You're crazy!" he cried. Then, I bit him and he cried out in pain. I took his hand and flew higher, going to catch up with Max and the others as Jagger was under me gasping in pain. He got suddenly lighter then and I grinned to look at him. He was astonished as he looked at me.

Then I woke up, gasping. Jagger was next to me, worry written all over his face. "Hey, are you okay? You started screaming." I nodded. "Yeah, I just had this dream but…" he raised an eyebrow. "But?" I sighed. "I don't think it was just a dream, I think it was…a vision." His eyes grew wide. Then he held my face firmly in his hands. "Don't tell anyone about this. OK?" I nodded. He got up and stretched. "It'd be bad news I anyone found out." He said. I frowned. "Why?" I asked. He hesitated then closed the door. He turned back to me. "Because, then they'd know that you're able to predict things." He whispered. My jaw dropped. "Really?" I asked. He nodded. "As of now, only Jeb and I know that." I snorted. "Leo probably does." I muttered. He raised an eyebrow. "I thought you liked Leo." I shrugged. "I don't really know. I told Angel I was with him last night through text and she burst into my mind telling me not to trust him." I explained. He nodded. "I wouldn't either, he seems like a jerk." I laughed and pushed him towards the door. "Yeah yeah, just go to your room, we have training to get ready for." I laughed. He grinned. "Oh yeah." Then he opened the door and left.

I went to my closet and yanked out a pair of neon green jeans and a black v neck t shirt. After I pulled them on, I took my black knee high converse and pulled them on. My hair was a wreck so I just pulled it into a ponytail. I walked over to my bed and took my wand and my knife and tucked them into my boots. There was a knock on my door. "You ready V?" Jagger called. "Yeah, just let me grab my iPod." I called back, walking to get it from my night stand. He opened the door and waited for me. When I turned from my nightstand, I turned giddy. He was wearing a pair of black jeans and a tight white shirt that hugged his muscles. I grinned. "ok, I'm ready." He smiled. "OK, come on, I'll lead you to the training field." I nodded, stuck the earphones of my iPod into my ears and followed him. After twenty minutes of going through bland, miserable hallways, we finally made it out side to the training field where other erasers were waiting…and where Leo was waiting. He smiled and walked up to where we had stopped. "Good morning V." he said pleasantly. I smiled. "Morning Leo." I said back. He laughed. "Ready for some training?" he asked. I grinned. "you bet." Jagger cleared his throat and looked at me. "Ready to meet the guys. I sighed. "sure." I said. he laughed and led me over to the small group of erasers. There were seven of them. One of them grinned. "Hey Jagger, who's your friend?" he asked. Jagger laughed. "Guys, this is Vanessa." The guy immediately frowned. Jagger started with him. "This is Ari." He said. I smiled. "hi." He didn't reply. Jagger ran through the rest of the people but I forgot their names as soon as he said them, I was too busy on wondering why Ari had been so quick to hate me.

"Okay, guys, let's start. Ari, you're with me." He said. "no." I interjected. Everyone looked at me. "Excuse me?" Ari said. I put my hands on my hips. "I said no. show me what you got." I demanded. He laughed at me. "I'm sorry; I don't fight defenseless little girls." He said, turning his back on me while the erasers were all oh!-ing because I apparently got burned. I smirked and, quick as lightning, pulled my knife from my boot—which immediately turned into a razor sharp sword—and laid the edge of it on his back. He froze and I could feel the crowd's shock. He turned slowly, his eyes widening when he saw how sharp my sword was. "You were saying?" I asked pleasantly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Leo smirking too. Ari growled. "Okay, let's see what the little mutts got." He grinned. "But it's an unfair fight! She's got a freaking sword!" one of the guys said. I looked at him and shrugged. "That's not a problem." I said. I pulled out my wand and made an exact replica of my sword and tossed it to him…but it was in knife form. He frowned. "You get a sword and I get a pocket knife." I rolled my eyes. "It's a magic sword idiot; you have to say a word to make it a sword." I said. He looked at me like I was crazy. I sighed. "Trasformare!"**(A/N: that's Italian for 'transform')** I sighed. It then turned into a sword. I grinned then. "Okay, let's go then." I said. He smirked.

I stuck out my pointer finger and pointed at the ground and moved it in a circular motion. A circle then appeared on the ground. I stepped in and beckoned him over. The circles burst into a low wall of flames. His eyes widened. I sighed. "It's not going to burn you." I told him. He looked relieved and then turned to me, expertly twirling the sword in his hand. "You make the first move." He said. I smirked. "I was hoping you'd say that." I replied. He looked confused but then I made my move. I darted across the circle and swung my sword in a wide arc, but he swiveled out of the way. I froze then.

Only one person had ever simply moved out of the way so fluidly and I had just met him several days ago. The man who killed my father.

I slowly turned to face him, hate flowing through my veins. "It was you." I hissed through clenched teeth. As my rage grew, the fire grew bigger. Ari looked confused. "What the heck are you talking about?" he cried out. "You killed him! You killed my father!" I shrieked. He froze then, realizing who I was. "You're Max's sister." He whispered. Everyone gasped. I nodded. Fear gripped his heart. I smiled a terrible smile. "Yes, you fell the fear don't you? Let it consume you." I murmured. He looked truly scared. My sword had melted, in my hands were blazing blue balls of fire. "hey, look, I didn't want to but orders are orders, you would have done the same." He explained hastily. I shook my head. "no I wouldn't." I said, closing in on him. "Vanessa! You're taking it too far!" Leo cried. "I don't care! My father will be avenged!" I snarled.

I leaped towards him, but then someone's arms were wrapped tight around me. I heard a sharp intake of breath as I grabbed at them, trying to free myself. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a stream of water coming straight at me. Leo had an apologetic look on my face as he soaked me in freezing cold water._ stupid water master._ I gasped and the flow of the fire stopped immediately. Then I fell to the ground. I looked up and saw Jagger looking at me with concern even though his arms were burned. I froze. "Jagger…" I whispered. He looked at his arms then looked at me. "Are you okay?" he asked. I looked at Ari, he looked frightened still. I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I'm so sorry, I…I don't know what got into me." I whispered. He stood shakily. "I'm not fighting you again and I guess I had that coming." He said his voice surprisingly strong. I shook my head. "Why is everyone acting like this is okay?" I whispered to Jagger. He sighed. "Accidents happen and who cares if we die? We'll expire sooner or later, might as well go out dramatically." He said. I was shaking. "I have to go." I said, standing up. Jagger looked confused. "Go? Go where?" Leo asked, suddenly by my side. I looked at all the faces, filled with fear and…admiration. "Anywhere but here." I shouted. I broke into a run across the field. I heard Jagger gasp. "Vanessa! No!" he shouted, running after me. But it was too late; I had already jumped and was soaring above the walls that confined me here.

_I'll be back._ I told Jagger in my mind. _Vanessa, you are going to be in so much trouble!_ Angel cried in my head. I sighed. _I don't care; I need to clear my head. If anyone asks, tell them I'm going for a walk._ Then, I put up all my mental barriers. I didn't need anyone listening in on the war within myself. I had to leave for a while. A few hours later, I landed in a small meadow and crashed to my knees, staring at the ground. I heard a growl behind me. When I turned, I saw that it was a wolf. I smiled weakly. "We're alike, you and me." He cocked his head to the side. I laughed. "I may not look it, but I'm a wolf too. Well, half wolf anyways." He walked up and sniffed me. Then, he sat next to me, staring into my eyes. "You know, you're pretty calm for a wolf." I said. He blinked. I sighed. And stood up, tucking my wings back in. he bit one of my shoe laces and started pulling me over to my left. Confused, I looked to my left to see a pack of wolves. I was touched. This wolf was going to let me join his family. I looked at him and dug a hole in the ground. I put everything I had with me into the hole, all the stuff wrapped up in my shirt, and morphed into a wolf, then buried them. I looked at the male wolf and he began to howl at the moon, the others joining in. after a few moments, I could contain myself no longer so I joined in.

5 days later.

I had dug up my stuff and carried everything in my mouth as I ran back to the School. It took about twice as long as it did flying, but eventually I got there. It was around midnight so everyone was asleep, but I knew getting in would be hard, so I didn't morph back yet. I ended up digging under the wall. Not so smart. Suddenly, sirens went off and lights started flickering on. White coats and erasers flooded into the yard, looking around, and then they saw me. The alarms went off and a spotlight shined on me. I heard someone snort. "It's just a stupid wolf." I snarled at them. Then I saw Jagger in the front of the crowd, just staring at me. I whimpered. He looked shocked. I padded over to him and curled up by his feet. Everyone stared at us. Then I heard a gun cock from in front of me. I looked up and saw an eraser with a shotgun. "Jagger, move. I don't want to shoot your foot." He ordered. Jagger was rooted at the spot; he was still staring at me. I got up and hid behind him. I wanted to change back so bad but I couldn't find the strength to do it. Jagger reached out a hand and stroked me. I started panting. He laughed. "Come on, she's friendly! There's no need to shoot her." He said. I heard a sigh. "Jagger, you can't keep it." Jeb said.

I froze as Jagger hesitated and stepped away from me. I looked at him. Then it struck me. The scars I had taken from him. I walked over to him and rolled over onto my belly, pleading with my eyes. He looked confused. I pawed where my scars were. He looked at it and gasped. The eraser was just about to pull the trigger. "No! Stop! It's not a wolf!" he said, lowering the guy's gun, staring at me. The eraser looked at him like he was crazy. "Vanessa?" he said quietly. I nodded and whimpered. His eyes widened. "What the heck! Why are you a wolf? Where have you been." I rolled my eyes as if to say _isn't it obvious?_. He laughed and patted my head. Jeb looked at my eyes and sighed. "Come, we'll take you to the lab." He looked at everyone else. "It's not an escapee or a wolf, it's a girl who we lost last week, and she just came back." I heard someone groan. I looked at who it was. Ari. I turned and got my clothes bundle and followed Jeb and Jagger back to a lab. After a few shots of adrenaline, I was back to normal. I pulled my clothes back on and sighed. "you can come back in." I called.

Jagger and Jeb came in and stared at me. I sighed again. "I'm sorry for running out like that, but I wasn't leaving for good." I said. "I just needed to clear my head so…I went wild." I explained. Jagger was deathly silent. Jeb sighed. "Vanessa, you are so lucky you are considered part of the erasers or you'd be so dead." He said. I nodded. "I know, but after what I almost did to Ari…"I trailed off. Jeb sighed. "Just don't leave again, your time will come." I was confused but I went along with it. Jeb looked at Jagger. "Go ahead and take her back to your room, she needs a shower cause…well, she smells like wet dog." I laughed. Jagger led me to our room in silence. I felt horrible. When we got to the room he sat on my bed, looking at his hands. I sighed. "Jagger I'm real sorry." I said. He looked at me. "For what?" he asked quietly. "For just leaving like that, I didn't even tell you where I was going and I'm sorry." I said. He sighed. "It's okay, I just…I just didn't know whether or not I'd see you alive and well again." I was silent. He smiled weakly and gave me a hug. "Just don't do it again." He said. I nodded. "I swear I won't." I promised. He grinned and kissed my head. "Now go to bed, we've got a long week ahead of us. I nodded and did as I was told.


	7. Breaking Free

Three months later.

Since the Ari incident, I have gotten a few new scars…and abilities. I've found that I can breathe underwater, look into the past, look into a person's memory and I can now control fire, decided whether or not it can actually burn you. Today has been weird though. I knew something was going to happen today…I just couldn't put my finger on it…until my second training session. "Vanessa, put some kick into it!" Jagger cried. We were practicing our fist fighting and Jared, my partner, was wearing me out. "No!" I cried. Then I just fell on my back, breathing hard, wiped out. Jared groaned. "You're no fun! You're too easy now, what is up with you?" he said. I rolled over and got up. "I'm hungry, that's what's wrong." I complained. Jared rolled his eyes. "Vanessa, we just ate!" I groaned. "I don't want that though! I need something juicier!" I cried. Jared rolled his eyes and walked away to join in with the fight between Adam and Danny. I sat in the grass and leaned against Jagger's leg. He sighed and patted my head as though I was a wolf again. "V, you need blood." He whispered. I sighed. "I don't want to drink it though." I said. He sighed, too. "V, I'm worried about you. You haven't drunk any blood since the incident with Ari, what's up?" I looked at him and sighed. "I just can't yet." He was about to reply but then a door burst open and the sirens went off. I jumped to my feet, my wand burning against my leg where it was tucked into my boot. I looked towards the door and saw Max, Iggy, Fang, Angel, Nudge, and a small winged boy I didn't know running across the field. I froze. Max caught my eye and jerked her head. Then the erasers jumped into action. The bird kids and the erasers were fighting. Then I saw Jeb in the shadows. He looked at me and nodded. I nodded back and joined in the fight. "Vanessa, help!" Jared cried. Fang was pinning him to the ground, punching him. I pushed Fang off, and grabbed Jared's arms. "I'm so sorry!" I told him. He looked confused. I slung him around in a circle and sent him flying into a wall. I helped Fang up, who grinned. "nice." He said. I shrugged. "It was nothing." I smirked. "What the heck Vanessa!" Ari cried. I turned just in time to swivel out of the way from his fist I twisted his arm behind my back and said, "I know my fate, and this is what I need to do." I then pushed him to the ground. Then I saw Max and the gang running towards the wall, I followed. We all jumped and unfurled our wings, launching ourselves into the air. We were flying away. I turned to take one last look at the School and froze. Jagger was on the ground, fighting off Danny and a few white coats. He looked up at me and smiled. Blood was dripping down his face from a cut on his head. "Vanessa! Come on!" Angel cried from above. I looked up at her. "I'll be right back!" I cried out to her. She looked confused. Max turned around and looked at me. "Vanessa, come on! He knows what he's doing!" she cried. I shook my head, flying back to the school. _I won't leave him Max._ I thought in my mind. I flew down and landed on my feet…and was attacked immediately. So I fought my way over to Jagger and grabbed his hand. He looked at me, surprised. Someone tried to punch him and he ducked out of the way. "Come on!" I cried, pulling him. He seemed confused but he went along with it. Then he saw me unfurl my wings. "Vanessa!" he cried. But it was too late. I already jumped and we were in the air, me holding his hand. He looked terrified. "V! Put me down! I wasn't made for this!" he shouted. I shook my head and looked at him. "Do you trust me?" I asked him. Suddenly bullets started whizzing through the air, barely avoiding us. He nodded. I smiled. "Okay, here we go!" I cried. I grabbed his arm with both hands and used all my strength to throw him up in the air. He cried out in surprise and started falling. Then I caught up with him and held on to him. "V! You're crazy!" he cried. Then, I bit him and he cried out in pain. I took his hand and flew higher, going to catch up with Max and the others as Jagger was under me gasping in pain. He got suddenly lighter then and I grinned to look at him. He was astonished as he looked at me. His grip on my hand was tight. "Vanessa…do I…?" he whispered. I nodded. He had jet black wings now. He looked at them as they beat next to mine. He looked me in the eyes. "But how?" he whispered. I smiled and showed him my bloody teeth. "oh." he said, rubbing his neck. I laughed and tugged on his arm. "Come on! We have to catch up with Max!" I laughed. I looked up and saw a small body go through the clouds. So I flew upwards, Jagger close behind. They were all waiting. Max didn't look happy. Then she saw Jagger and her mouth dropped. "Do I want to know?" she asked. I shrugged. "It's basically the same way I got mine. I bit him." I explained. She rolled her eyes and flew. "Come on, we got to get as far away as possible, somewhere they won't find us." I grinned. "I know a place." I flew down to the meadow and landed on my feet, the gang close behind. The small boy looked at me and said, "Are you Max's sister?" I grinned. "Yeah, who are you?" I asked. "Gazzy." He said. I laughed. "Nice." He grinned. Jagger walked over to me and gave me a huge hug. I hugged him back and laughed. "What's that for?" I asked. He grinned at me. "For giving me freedom." He said. I smiled. Then we heard howls and a pack of wolves surrounded us. Nudge cried out in surprise, everyone else but me and Jagger froze…and Max I guess, she was kind of frozen in a battle stance. Jagger looked at them with admiration. I smiled and held my hand out to a male. He sniffed my hand and licked it. He howled at the moon and I howled with them. I grinned and turned to them. "Guy's, this is my adoptive family." Iggy laughed. "You were adopted by wolves?" He asked. I nodded. "Yeah, this is where I was those five days I was missing." He stopped laughing then. "Ok, they know a cave where we can stay, they'll lead us there…" I looked at Max. "If that's ok with you." I said. Everyone looked at her. She thought for a few minutes and nodded. "Yeah, sounds good for now." she said stubbornly. I grinned. "Cool!" we all traveled in silence as the wolves led us to the cave. The cave was pretty big…and cold. I was shivering like crazy. "Is anyone else besides me cold?" I asked as we sat in the cave, making a game plan. Max shook her head. "No, it's just you hot head." I rolled my eyes. Jagger shrugged off the jacket he had been wearing and draped it across my shoulders. I smiled. "thanks." I said. He shrugged in response. "What about the mutt?" Iggy said suddenly. We all looked at him. "Which one?" I asked. Iggy rolled his eyes. "I'm talking about Jagger." He clarified. I frowned. "Well, what do you mean what about him?" I asked. He shrugged. "Are we really going to bring an eraser with us?" that made me mad. "What the heck Iggy! He was down there fighting for you! For us!" I shouted. He frowned. "So? He's still an eraser, we can't trust him." my hands were shaking with fury. "So? I was with the erasers. I trained with them, I worked with them, and I lived with them. Am I not to be trusted?" I hissed. He sighed. "Of course you're trusted." He said impatiently. "Then why isn't he." I said. Everyone was quiet. Jagger sighed and stood up. I looked at him, surprised. He started walking towards the mouth of the cave. "Jagger? Where are you going?" I asked, confused. He looked at me. "I'm leaving." I froze. I felt like someone punched a hole through my chest. "What? Why? Because of Iggy?" I asked, dumfounded. He smiled weakly. "He's only voicing everyone else's concerns." He said. I looked at them. They all had a guilty expression on their face. I turned back at him, pleading with my eyes. He laughed softly. "Bye V. it was great getting to know you." He turned around and walked out the cave. After a few long moments, I stood up. "Vanessa? Where you going?" Max demanded. I looked at her. "I'm going after him." I said. Angel stood up. "No! You can't!" she cried. Max held up a hand. "Let her go. She needs to do this." Max said. I looked at her, surprised. "Really? No yelling or telling me how stupid I am or any sarcastic comment?" I asked. She shook her head. "It's not like I could stop you anyways." She laughed. I grinned. "Thanks a million Max!" I cried. Then I ran out of the cave and followed him. I couldn't see him but I had his scent. I followed it until I finally saw him sitting by a river. "Jagger!" I cried, running to him. He jumped up and looked at me, surprised. "Vanessa? What the heck are you doing here?" I panted a little. "I want to go with you." I explained. He cocked an eyebrow. "You don't know where I'm going though." I shrugged. "So? I want to go with you." He smiled weakly. "V, you need to go back to Max." I stopped and looked at him. "What?" I asked. He put his hands on my shoulders. "You need to go back to Max, V." I shook my head. "Only if you come with me." I said, stubbornly. He laughed. "You are so stubborn." I nodded. He sighed and let me go. "V, where I need to be is different than where you need to be." He said. I froze. "What do you mean?" he looked at me. "I'm saying we can't be together." I frowned. "No, I can convince Max to let you stay with us, then we can." I said. He shook his head. "That's not what I meant." That stopped me dead in my tracks. "I don't know what you're talking about." I whispered. He laughed. "Vanessa, I've seen the way you look at me, the way you turn pink at the slightest touch from me." I felt so vulnerable. I looked up at him. "But I'm okay with just being friends, as long as we're together." I said, knowing that it was a lost cause. He shook his head. "But I'm not." He said quietly. I froze. "What?" I said. He smiled. "I want to be with you, but I can't. Then the school would be able to control you because they can control me, and even if they couldn't Max would be too worried about you and wouldn't be able to focus on the flock." He explained. "Then let me come with you." I urged. "no." he said sternly. I was silenced. Tears formed in my eyes and I turned away, looking at the reflection of the moon against the river. He froze. "Vanessa, are you…are you crying?" he asked, horrified. I shook my head. "No, I just have something in my eye." I muttered, trying to wipe away my tears. He turned me towards him and stared at my face. "Vanessa, I didn't mean to—" but I cut him off. "No, it's okay." I said trying to take my face from his hands. He shook his head. "No its not." He said quietly I looked into his eyes. He closed his eyes and our lips met. I closed mine too and soaked in the moment. His kiss was soft and loving, but eager and wild at the same time. It was alluring. We parted and he looked into my eyes. I looked and pulled away. "Um, well, I guess I'll go to Max then." I whispered painfully. "No, don't leave." He whispered. I stopped where I was, I couldn't find the ability to move…or the will. I wanted to stay. I turned to him. He realized it just as I did. "It's already fulfilled." He whispered. I nodded. He smiled. "Well, I guess we'll just have to stick together then." He said, pulling me close to him. I smiled. "Good, cause I had no intention to leave." I said. Then we kissed again. After our lips touched, wolves were howling in the distance, they sounded happy though. I smiled. "They seem happy about it." I whispered in between kisses. "Mmhmm." was all he said as we kissed. Suddenly, someone cleared their throat. I whirled around and saw we had an audience. I froze. "Just because I'm blind doesn't mean I can't hear." Samuel snorted. I flushed. "We weren't making that much noise…were we?" he laughed. "No, actually I just walked up." He grinned. I frowned. "Okay, well, you can leave now." I said, dropping hints. He laughed. "Nah, I'm good." I groaned. "Sam!" I cried. He laughed. "Okay okay, I'll go back to your bird friends." I froze. "Back?" I said. He nodded. "The wolves brought them to my hideaway." He explained. I nodded. "Okay, tell them we'll be back in the morning." He laughed. "Okay." He said, and then he walked off. Jagger looked back at me. "So, where were we?" he asked, pulling me into him. I smiled. "I think we were at this part." I said. I leaned against him and kissed him. He gingerly pushed me away and laid on the ground. My eyes popped out of my head. He rolled his eyes. "Do you really think I'd do that?" he said. I shook my head. "No, not really." So I laid down next to him and curled against his side. He turned onto his side and wrapped his arms around me. I yawned. "Is it nappy time yet, V?" he teased. I giggled. "Nope, for you maybe." I replied. He laughed and yawned. "We should get to sleep now." He said, closing his eyes. I nodded. "Yeah, night." He smiled. "Night." Then I closed mine and drifted off to sleep.

I woke up the next morning alone. I almost started crying but then I saw a not next to me. I picked it up and read it.

Morning sleeping beauty, I didn't leave you, I just went out to grab some grub. Be back soon.

J.

I sighed in relief. Then I heard the sound of footsteps behind me. I whirled around and saw Jagger walking up with a bag of doughnuts. I laughed and patted the ground next to me. He grinned. "Sorry it took me so long, I had to drop off a bag at the cave for the flock." He explained. I laughed. "It's ok, I just woke up." He grinned and gave me a kiss." I sighed happily. He laughed and pulled out a doughnut, handing it to me. "Here, chocolate with sprinkles." He said. I squealed and sunk my teeth into it. I moaned in chocolaty pleasure. He smiled. "Well, hurry up; we got to get back to the cave soon." I nodded and scarfed it down. He rolled his eyes and stood up. He held out his hand and I took it. He unfurled his wings. I did the same and we launched ourselves into the air. Soon, we were at walking distance from the cave so we landed. He took my hand and we walked to the cave. We were about twenty feet away when we heard a ruckus. We ran to the cave to see Fang beating Samuel. I gasped. "Fang stop!" I cried, running to him. Fang looked bewildered. "Vanessa? We thought you left!" he said. Now I was confused. Then I turned to Samuel. "You didn't tell them did you!" he rolled his eyes. "No, no I didn't." I frowned. "Why? You said you would!" max stepped up then. "V, who the heck is this." She demanded. "My cousin Samuel." I said. She frowned. "Your cousin? That's weird." She said sarcastically. I was bewildered. "What do you mean?" I asked. She frowned. "I mean he just came in here and tried to kill me." She said angrily. I turned around and slapped Samuel across the face. Silence. He stared at me; tears welled up in my eyes. "You lied! You said you were going to tell them I'd be back in the morning and then you try to kill Max? My only sister?" he glared. Even though he was blind, he was good at finding a person's eyes. "Yeah, I did try to kill her. You want to k now why? Because that epic battle from the legend? Yeah, it's going to be between you and Max." he said. I froze and looked at Max. She was looking at me too. I shook my head. "No, it's not, it can't! It'll be me and Max against…against someone!" I cried desperately. He shook his head. "That's not what your mom said." he muttered. My heart stopped. _Mom…_ "Leave now." I whispered. He nodded and stood up. "Come find me when you need help." He said, and then he left. At the same time, Jagger said my name and Fang said Max's name. "I don't want to talk about it." We said in perfect harmony. I looked at Max. "That will never happen, don't worry." She said. I nodded and took a deep breath. "So, where are we going next?" I asked. Iggy looked at me. "Nowhere with him." He said simply. Jagger took my hand again and looked Max dead in the eye. "We stay together." She ground her teeth. "What makes you think that?" she asked. "Because her legend is unfolding." Angel said. Everyone looked at her. "What?" Gazzy and Nudge said. She sighed. "Long story short, whoever V falls for, controls her and they have to stick together." She said, waving her hand towards us. Max stared and slapped her face. "fine." She said. I grinned and ran over and gave her a hug. "Thank you so much Max!" I said. She froze and I let go smiling. "So, where we going." Gazzy grinned. "New York." He said. I grinned. "Sweet! The big apple!" Jagger grinned. "I heard escape the fate is playing there soon." He told me. My jaw dropped. "Yes!" I cried, punching the air. He laughed. "Who?" Fang asked. I looked at him. "Escape the fate, it's a band." I said. He shrugged. "so who knows how to get there?" Nudge asked. Angel looked at me. "Vanessa has GPS on her phone." She said. Max snorted. "We have natural instincts, we don't need GPS." I nodded. "Yeah! And I have no clue how to use GPS anyways!" I said, supporting my sister. So we all left and flew into the air heading towards New York.


	8. In my head

**Me:** omg, they're going to New York! Awesomeness! :D

Vanessa: I know right! Can we go to Italy next?

**Me:** um…no.

V: excuse me? Was that a no? –Forms fireballs-

**Me:** -nervous laugh- haha, I mean sure! Why not. ^^;

V: that's what I thought…oooh, ice cream!

**Me:** anyways! Here's the story! Hope you enjoy=]

We were flying when I had this weird feeling…. "Max!" I cried, flying up under her so I could talk to her. "What V?" she called back. She looked down at me with a happy look, I think she really enjoys flying, like I enjoy fighting. "I have this weird feeling! I think we're being followed!" I called back. Her eyes went wide. "What?" she looked at Angel. "Can you hear anyone else's thoughts?" she asked. Angel closed her eyes for a few moments then shook her head. "No, just ours." She replied, eying Jagger. Jagger flushed. Then, I had another massive headache. I gasped and started falling. "Vanessa!" a woman's voice screamed. Her voice was familiar but…I couldn't put my finger on who it was.

"Vanessa, focus. Open your eyes and get back onto your path before you get yourself killed." A man's voice ordered. My eyes snapped open and I flew back up to where anyone else was, just like the voice said to. Max was glaring at Angel. "Do you realize she could have died?" she yelled at her. Jagger came up close to me and gave me a worried look. Angel shook her head. "Max, there's something wrong, I can't hear her thoughts." The man in my head snorted. "Of course you can't, a six year old can't have the ability to break through a mind cloud." He said matter-of-factly. I frowned. "A what?" I asked out loud. Iggy looked at me with a weird look on his face. "Who are you talking to?" he asked. I sensed the voices go away…along with the weird feeling. Angel sighed in relief. "OK, everything's alright." She said. There was an awkward silence as we all just sat there, hovering in a loose circle.

"Well, we better get a move on before Erasers come." Fang said, looking at Max. She nodded and flew off, not even bothering to see if we were following. _Vanessa, what was that? When I tried to read your mind, I felt…woozy._ Angel asked. I shrugged on the inside._ I don't really know but…I heard the voices of a man and a woman and…well, I think it was maybe my mom and dad._ I waited but I never heard a reply from her. A few hours later, we arrived in New York. I squealed in excitement. Gazzy laughed as Iggy complained. "Oh my God! Shut up Vanessa!" I frowned and flicked a spark on his back. He started and flicked it off. "was that really necessary?" Max asked, somehow knowing what I did. I sniffed. "Yes, yes it was." I said. Nudge giggled. I frowned as I saw a tour bus leaving New York. "aw! We missed Escape the Fate!" I whined. Jagger laughed. "They're probably just making way for another band." He said. I raised an eyebrow. "Or got kicked out." He said. I laughed.

Then I had a really strong, weird feeling. _Vanessa, be on the lookout. She's here._ I frowned and heard a grunt of annoyance from Angel. I rolled my eyes. _OK, one, who is? And two, who the heck are you?_ He sighed. _One, the other girl who can control fire. And two, I'm your father you dip._ I cracked up laughing. "V what are you laughing at?" Nudge asked, confused. I stopped laughing. "Um, funny thought." I said. She rolled her eyes. My dad snorted. _Funny thought my—._ But I cut him off. _Hey! No cussing in my head please! There is a five year old mind reader in the vicinity! _He laughed and went quiet. "Ugh! Vanessa Marie take your frickin mental barrier things down!" Angel cried. Everyone looked at her, kind of startled. My dad roared with laughter._ Yeah, a five year old who says 'frickin'._ I gritted my teeth. "Ok, if you want to chill out here, shut up!" I cried out. Max whirled around and looked at me. "Vanessa, who the hell are you talking to?" she demanded. I hesitated. _Just tell her the truth._ I frowned. _But then she'll think I'm a lunatic!_ I cried. He sighed and I felt his presence. Suddenly Max gasped. Understanding washed over her and then my dad's presence was back. Max stared at me. _You didn't…_ I said. My dad sniffed. _Yeah, I did._ I sighed. "Okay, where we going next Max?" I asked. She looked around and pointed. I looked and saw Central Park…where a lot of trees were. I grinned. "Good idea." I said. She snorted. "Duh it's a good idea." She said. I frowned. Jagger rolled his eyes and headed for the trees…and got shot down by a ball of fire. Gazzy laughed. "You finally get sick of him?" he teased. I looked at him. "Gazzy, that wasn't me." I was frozen where I was, then a shape darted towards the ground where Jagger landed. "Then who could it have been?" Fang mused.

**Cliff hanger! =]**

**V:** tell me!Who is it?

**Me:** you'll see!

**V:** i hate you...

**me:** yeah, sure you do. anyways, please review!


	9. Smoldering Ember

**DISCLAIMER! I don't own Maximum Ride and the character introduced does not belong to me, but I have permission to mix her in from the writer DarkAngelDreams13. Ok, enjoy! =]**

_Vanessa, go after him! You need him._ My father ordered inside my head. **(A/N: Max has her Voice, and Vanessa has her own, they aren't the same.)** I snapped into action and bomb dived down to the clearing. I landed just in time to see Jagger duck out of the way from a fireball. My dad hissed. _Is that her?_ I asked. _Yes, she's the bender._ Then she ambushed him with six of them and he fell to the ground, crying out in pain. I snarled and she whirled around. She had dirty blonde hair that went down to her waist and she looked about 5'5…dangit, she's taller than me.**(A/N: in case you couldn't tell, Vanessa has height issuesXD)**. She was pale, but not freakishly pale, it was a pretty pale. Like porcelain skin almost. Her wings were a reddish color and the way the setting sun hit it made them look as though they were on fire. I looked into her eyes then and they turned from red to blue. _Hmm…do my eyes do that when I use fire?_ I mused. _No, they turn black._ My dad said. I frowned. I realized then she was glaring at me. I glared back.

"Who the hell are you?" I snarled. Jagger looked up and caught my eye. The girl snorted. "Why should I tell you?" she replied in a snotty tone. I smirked. "Because, I want to know who has my ability." I answered. She looked kind of confused…then I snapped my fingers and created a small ball of fire. She froze. "How'd you do that? And who are they?" she demanded. I looked behind me and saw that the flock had landed. Max was glaring at the girl. I looked back at her. "Tell me who you are first and why you're burning him." I said. She gritted her teeth. "My name is Ember and I'm burning him because of what he is." She said, her eyes turning red. I got confused. "What the heck? What do you mean? He's just a guy." I said. She snorted. "Right, just a normal guy. He's an eraser." She hissed. I froze. "I've seen you before. You're one of the mutants from the School." Max said. Ember looked at her and she froze. "Hey, you're the bird kid from the arena." She said. Max nodded. She frowned. "Then you know who he is." She said jerking her head towards Jagger, who was slowly getting up. She seemed to sense that because she turned around and punched him in the face with a flame superheating her fist.

Now I'm pissed. I Spartan kicked her to the ground and took out my knife, which immediately turned into a sword. "Don't you dare touch him." I snarled at her. She turned over onto her back and stared at me for a few seconds. "You wouldn't happen to be this Vanessa I'm always hearing about, would you?" she said, a smirk on her face. I nodded. "Yes, I'm Vanessa Marie, why?" she knocked my feet out from under me and I fell to the ground. "Because, you just happen to be an eraser. I hate erasers." She said as I squirmed under her booted foot. "Ok, what's happening?" Iggy said. Ember looked over at him, distracted. Then her eyes went wide and she flushed. "Vanessa's getting her butt whopped by another bird girl." Gazzy said. I pushed her foot off and got up. "look." I said. She looked at me, much calmer and blue eyed again. "We know he's an eraser. He's also one of us." I said, waving my hand towards the flock. Her brows furrowed. "But if he's a dumb butt eraser, why is he with you?"She asked, exasperated. "Because Jagger and Vanessa are in love!" Nudge squealed before I could reply. My face flushed. I flicked a spark at her. She flicked it off and rolled her eyes. Ember gasped. I looked at her. She was looking up towards the trees. But before she could say a thing, erasers dropped in all around us. They had us surrounded. Suddenly, Jagger was next to me in a protective stance. Then someone approached us. "Well well, looks like we hit two birds with one stone boys." I turned to see Ari looking at us, a malicious glint in his eyes. I also noticed that he had the clone of my knife strapped to his upper arm. _Interesting…_ my dad mused in my head. Behind Ari was the eraser who had been in my room the first night I had been at the School, he looked focused on something. I followed his sight line and saw he was staring at Ember…who had pure hate in her now red eyes. I looked at Ari. "Did you come for a re match?" I taunted. He looked annoyed. "You're in no position to taunt Vanessa. You see, we have someone of value to you." I froze as they pushed a beaten and bound Samuel through the wall of erasers. I gasped. "Sam!" I cried out. I tried to rush over to him, but Jagger held me back.

Suddenly, Max started laughing. "Well, I guess we all know what happens now." Ember smirked. "Time to kick some major eraser butt." She said. We all jumped into action then. I sent a round house kick to Ari, but he grabbed my ankle and slammed me into a tree. I picked up my sword and rushed over to Samuel to cut the rope. When he was free, he was all business. He turned on the dime and punched Jared in the face. I grinned. "Nice one Sam." I commented as I ducked out of the way from a punch. "I try." He said. Suddenly there was scream and then

**KABOOM! **

An explosion happened. We all fell to the ground to avoid flying tree chunks. I looked up to see Ember panting and at her feet was a bloody eraser…the one who had been staring at her. Ari gasped and turned. "Abort!" he cried. The erasers ran like bats out of hell.

I shrunk my sword and stuck it back into my boot. I walked over to Ember and grinned. "Whoa, how did that happen?" I asked. She shrugged. "Well, you see, it all happens like this. When Ember get's pissed, she gets super hot. When I get super hot, I send out a somewhat controlled explosion." She said, stretching. Iggy walked up and grinned. "Power of combustion, nice." She grinned. "Aw, it was nothing." She said. I rolled my eyes. "So what pissed you off?" Fang asked. She frowned. "An eraser slammed me into a tree and kissed me." She growled. I laughed. "Who was it?" Gazzy asked her. She shivered in a bad way. "Paul." She said, sneering his name. Jagger laughed. "That sounds just like him." she shrugged. Max walked up and looked around. "Well, it doesn't look like the explosion was too big so no one probably knows anything, so let's head out before Ari comes back with the rest." She said. Walking away, Angel and Fang behind her. Angel paused and looked at Ember. "Her name's Max." she said. Ember looked annoyed. "Ok, look, we got off on the wrong foot but…can I come with you? I have nowhere to go and I think I'd be safer with you guys." She confessed. Max looked at her. "No, we already picked up those two." She said, nodding her head towards me and Jagger. "Three actually." I said. She glared at me. "What?"

Samuel walked up then and yawned. "Man, I'm tired." He grumbled. She frowned. "You've got to be kidding me." She muttered. I shook my head. "He's family Max!" I urged. She glared at me. "He also tried to kill me." She growled. I cowered. Samuel rolled his eyes. "Thanks for trying V, but no. I've got places to go." He said. He gave me a quick hug and walked away. I frowned. Max looked back at Ember. "Like I said, no." she repeated. Iggy cleared her throat. "It wouldn't be too bad if she came…would it?" he asked. Max looked astounded. Gazzy grinned. "Yeah! Just think of how many erasers we could explode if she came along!" he said, supporting Iggy. Nudge grinned. "Yeah! That'd be, like, so cool! Cause she could blow up eraser and stuff but, like, she's also another girl!" she said. Angel rolled her eyes. Max grimaced and then glared at Ember. "Set one foot out of line and I will take you down." She said. Ember shrugged. "Fair enough." Gazzy grinned. "We'll keep her in line, won't we Iggy?" Iggy smiled. "yeah." He said. Angel yawned. "Max! I'm tired!" She whined. Max looked up at the trees. "This should be a good spot to rest, if it weren't for the fact we'd get mauled in our sleep by erasers." She said. I shrugged. "I doubt the erasers will come back, but just in case…" I trailed of as I took out my wand. "Cerchiamo di essere nascosto." I said. I slid my wand back into my boot. "That should do it." I murmured. Ember snorted. "Do what? All you did was making up new words." She said. I shook my head. "No I didn't, I just used a different language." I explained. "Uh huh…what's the mumbo jumbo mean?" she pressed. I rolled my eyes. "It means 'let us be hidden' in Italian. So now if the erasers come back, they won't see us." I explained further. She nodded and jumped to the lowest tree limb. Everyone else did the same. I yawned and looked around for Jagger. He laughed softly. I turned around to see him leaning on a trunk a little ways off. I walked towards him. He crouched down. "Climb on." He said. I nodded and did as I was told. He climbed up to the top of the tree to the highest tree limb. I crawled off his back and sat on the tree trunk. He looked at me. "What? Do I have something on my face?" I asked. He shook his head. "No, you just look amazing in the moon light." He murmured. I rolled my eyes. He laughed. "No, really." He insisted, taking my hand. I smiled. "I know." I said. He leaned against the tree and patted his lap. I climbed onto his lap and he encircled his arms around me. I nuzzled up to him. He laughed and gave me a kiss. I kissed back. He moaned in pleasure and grabbed a fistful of my hair with one hand and placed the other on the small of my back. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He pulled me closer to him, running his hand up and down my spine. I shivered and we broke apart. His eyes were lit with excitement. Then someone cleared their throat. I turned around and saw Ember standing on the other side of the branch. "Sorry to interrupt your little love fest but can I talk to you Vanessa?" she asked. Her emotion had embarrassed written all over it, I was confused but I agreed. "Yeah." She blushed. "In private?" I looked at Jagger. He sighed. "Ok, just come get me when you want me." I nodded and got up. Then he jumped off. I looked at Ember. "What you need?" I asked her. "Is Iggy blind?" she asked. I nodded. "Yeah, why?" she shrugged. "Well, the tree I'm in is next to his and I feel like he keeps staring at me with a wistful look in his eyes but I look and he's looking a few inches away from my eyes." She explained. I grinned. "Looks like Iggy's got a crush." I teased. Her face turned red. "Shut it!" she hissed. I grinned even wider. "Looks like you like Iggy too!" I giggled. She had a horrified look on her face. "I do not! I hardly know the guy!" she whispered furiously. I shook my head. "That's not what your emotions are telling me!" she frowned. "You can read those?" I nodded. She snorted. "Say anything and I'll melt your face off." I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, ok." She left then. Jagger climbed up after she thudded to the ground. I climbed into his lap. "What was that about?" he asked. I shook my head. "Nothing." He rolled his eyes. "I don't believe you." I giggled. "Good, cause I lied." I said. He shook his head. "Liars don't get kisses." He said, tapping my nose. I frowned. "But if I tell, my face will get melted, and then you won't have a face to kiss." I whimpered. He laughed and kissed me lightly on the lips. I yawned, cuddled with him, and fell asleep.


End file.
